In 2006, SGA sought permission to remove a fence to allow cattle to access water in an exclosure and install a temporary pipeline to pump water from another exclosure to a nearby pasture. The next year, USFS found the SGA cattle inside that same exclosure and informed SGA they were violating the permit and had to remove the animals from the exclosure. In 2001, USFS denied SGA’s request to pipe water from within an exclosure to a nearby pasture to water the cattle. This permit, however, contained a new clause, which stated that “livestock use” was not permitted on exclosures. In 1999, the USFS again re-issued the grazing permit for 553 cattle for 10 years, subject to cancellation or modification as necessary. In 1998, the permit granted prohibited SGA’s cattle from grazing in six exclosures. Due to drought conditions at the time, however, the USFS District Ranger allowed SGA’s cattle to enter the exclosures so long as SGA monitored forage levels and promptly moved cattle to another pasture. In 1996, the USFS sent a letter to SGA stating that their cattle were not permitted to graze in wetlands along the Sacramento River. When a new exclosure was built in 1992, stock water was pumped to the outside of the fence to allow SGA’s cattle to drink. USFS took no enforcement action against SGA for this practice. From 1989-1992, SGA says their cattle were allowed to drink for weeks at a time inside the exclosures due to unlocked gates or gaps. SGA admits that they were aware of the fences serving as exclosures at the Sacramento Lake area when it purchased the rights from Sacramento Cattle Company. In 1989, the SGA acquired the Sacramento Cattle Company, along with all “cattle, water rights, range rights, access rights, and range improvements on the base property, as well as the appurtenant federally-administered grazing allotment known as the Sacramento Allotment.” The 1989 permit from USFS allowed 553 cows for a period of 10 years. The Sacramento Grazing Association (SGA) was formed in 1989 to run cattle on an allotment in the Sacramento Mountains of the Lincoln National Forest. ![]() ![]() A year later, the USFWS determined that “limiting or excluding livestock and humans from the critical habitat areas would help the Sacramento Mountains Thistle to recover.” Thus, the USFS planned to construct fences around 29 water bodies that had been designated as critical habitats for the Thistle. In 1983, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed designating the Sacramento Mountains Thistle as a threatened species pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. Each year the USFS determines the number of cattle that may be grazed on various portions of the forest, including the Sacramento Allotment. ![]() As part of that management, since 1910, the USFS has issued grazing permits to ranchers to graze cattle on the federally owned forest land. The US Forest Service (USFS) manages federally owned land within the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico.
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